Keep people out of policy deliberations, CII told

Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Thursday advised business honchos and top executives in Goa to keep the general public out of policy deliberations.

"Before arriving at a decision or a policy, have closed door meetings. Your in-between decision making process cannot be thrown to the roads for discussion with people because you yourself have not come to conclusion what is to be done," Parrikar said.

He was speaking at a function organized by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) in Panaji to usher in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign.

Transparency, Parrikar said, comes into the picture only after internal discussions result in conclusion.

"Transparency comes after your group comes to a conclusion based on discussions you can (then) throw open," Parrikar said. The chief minister also cited the example of the Goa government's Investment Policy launched recently, which he said was a "closed exercise".

Parrikar also said that a democracy does not mean that everyone has to agree and that in a democratic system 50 percent agreement on issues was enough and in many cases a government represented for the majority half.

"If everyone has to agree there is no democracy. Democracy means 50 percent agrees and the 50 percent in many matters is the government...," Parrikar said.